Our attempts to achieve it may be less direct, but who among us can't identify with Dracula's quest for eternal life, or at least unending youth and beauty?

Perhaps that accounts for the, ahem, undying popularity and countless cinematic and theatrical versions of the "undead" count's story.

Aficionados of the horror genre will relish the current version at Theatre Harrisburg. Even if the oft-repeated legend is beginning to strike you as being anemic as his victims (guilty as charged), this production offers a well-done diversion from nonvampire cares.

In the hands of guest director David J. Olmsted, "The Passion of Dracula" effortlessly weaves together serious drama with the kind of camped-up acting last seen in the silents.

The actors move seamlessly from philosophical debate to incongruously funny lines, such as Dracula's complaint about the state of public-school education in England. The special effects, while neat, don't detract from the slightly overlong plot.

True to its title, the play presents a Dracula whose longing for consort overshadows his lust, and whose seductive powers -- sensual and intellectual -- are bigger than his bite.

Above all, this is a play that doesn't take itself too seriously.

What also makes this production noteworthy is the abundance of talented (forgive me) new blood: seven of the nine actors are new to the Theatre Harrisburg stage.

Matthew Lorenz fits the proverbial tall, dark and handsome model. What makes him particularly enjoyable to watch in the title role are the charisma, quiet willpower and suave seductiveness that go beyond mere good looks.

As the object of his passion, Whilhemina, Jessika Lynn Peach, does a great job entering and exiting trances, transitioning from demure English lady to seductress and succumbing to and rallying from her mysterious sickly state.

Dale Light plays Renfield, the insect-eating sanitarium patient. Is he mad or prescient? Light lets us see both possibilities.

Rae Thomas seems constrained by a German accent and the repressiveness of Dr. Helga Van Zandt, and comes more to life in the character's second incarnation.

In contrast, George E. Ringley soars, German accent and all, as Dracula's learned nemesis, Prof. Van Helsing.

Stephen E. Moulton brings dramatic and melodramatic flair to Helga's secret lover, Lord Godalming.

William Joseph La Cour strikes the right tone as Jonathan Harker, the journalist who casts objectivity to the wind in favor of lust and love.

Michael S. Lazorcik is stolid as Dr. Seward, the man of science baffled by his niece's illness and unwilling at first to accept an expert's opinion on its source.

True comic relief is supplied with verve -- as well as a good Cockney accent and the snobbism only an English butler can display -- by C. J. Coolsen.